NHL 17

NHL 17 is an ice hockey simulation video game powered by the Ignite engine, created by Electronic Arts. It features game presentation in the style of the NHL on NBC, with commentary being provided by Mike Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (color) and Ray Ferraro (ice-side reporter), with the network's score bug appearing on-screen as well. The game can be played on five different difficulties; "Rookie", the lowest, "Semi-Pro", "Pro", "All-Star", and "Superstar", the highest. Players are able to select from three different control schemes, called "NHL '94 controls", "Skill Stick" and "Hybrid"; NHL '94 controls are very simplistic as they strictly use the controller's buttons for actions, aside from moving the player, which the left stick does; Skill Stick controls utilize the controller's right stick in order to both shoot and deke; Hybrid controls are similar to NHL '94 controls but have some more action options.

All schemes have dedicated goalie controls, for when the player manually controls one, which are the same across all schemes. If they wish, the player can enable the On-Ice Trainer, a system made to assist the player as they play.

According to NHL 17 lead producer Sean Ramjagsingh, the developers wanted to take from the series' previous installment and generally improve on it. The development team within EA Canada wanted to improve on the overall gameplay by introducing a better physics system and enhanced artificial intelligence. They utilized Electronic Arts' Ignite engine as a foundation to NHL 17 and built the game off of that. While the development team of FIFA within EA Canada had transitioned to the Frostbite engine from Ignite for that year's entry, the NHL development team continued to use Ignite, though Ramjagsingh speculated about possibly using Frostbite in future installments of the series.

The game also dropped support for the older seventh generation of video game consoles for the first time, following the NHL: Legacy Edition port of the previous year. Ramjagsingh cited the increased player base on eighth generation consoles as a reason why the developers wanted to not port the game to the consoles of the previous generation.

The inclusion of the Bautista bat flip celebration, which could be viewed during the beta, received wide media coverage, with sites such as Yahoo! Sports, Fox Sports, CBS Sports, as well as the MLB's own Cut4 news subsidiary reporting on it. Critics who played the game's beta gave it generally positive reviews. Samit Sarkar of Polygon stated that "NHL 17 is shaping up to be the kind of game that could bring the series back to its previous-generation heights," complimenting the game's gameplay improvements and the new additions to the EASHL mode.

Jake Sundstrom of SB Nation's Fear the Fin blog enjoyed the game's team and arena builders, but commented that they need "a little more depth". Brian Mazique of Forbes lauded the game's graphics, stating that "NHL continues to be one of the most attractive sports games available." He also praised the game's improved AI systems for CPU teammates and opponents as well as the online connectivity. He was more critical of the HUT mode's menus and the game's presentation, calling it "beyond stale and outdated."